Disguised as a Good Girl
by a nuther
Summary: Everyone has heard of the legendary pranksters, the Marauders. And yet very few people know that the brilliant mind behind all of their pranks belonged to timid Lily Evans. Please R/R!
1. Miss Goody-Two-Shoes

Disclaimer: None of the characters or anything else that appears in the Harry Potter books belongs to me.  
  
  
Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 1  
  
A loud bang issued forward from the opposite corner of the compartment, expelling a cloud of ash into the air. Lily sneezed. She had been deeply immersed in her book, but the small explosion had called her back to reality. She could make out the figures of four unknown boys through the dust. Lily hadn't even noticed them. They couldn't have come in very long ago.  
  
Once the air had cleared, Lily could see who the boys were. The Marauders! Lily gasped quietly, and buried her head deeper in her book. She was sharing a room with the four most popular boys in the school. She wondered how they had managed to get rid of all of their fans. Not that it mattered to her. As long as they left her alone, she was happy.  
  
But it was not to be. Lily's sneeze had alerted the four boys to her presence. As she turned her head back to the story, she found herself confronted with four curious pairs of eyes.  
  
"Hi," she said weakly.  
  
James Potter was the first to speak up. He was often considered the leader of the Marauders, not because he actually led them in their pranks, but because he was the most wanted guy within Hogwarts' walls. James Potter, Gryffindor Quiditch Captain, straight A student, with a new girlfriend every week. He had probably taken out more than half of the girls from the fourth to seventh year. When it came to James, the problem with most girls wasn't snagging him, it was keeping him. Any girl who went out with him for more than a week would be an instant celebrity. No one had done it yet.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked, while the others looked on.  
  
"I'm Lily, Lily Evans."  
  
James surveyed her for a minute. She had shining, dark red hair that fell in soft curls to her waist. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but her eyes were downcast so that he couldn't see the color. He remembered that he had just broken up with Bertha Jorkins over the summer, and that he needed to have a girlfriend before they got to school to maintain his reputation. James Potter without a girlfriend! Now that would give everyone something to talk about.  
  
"What year are you in?" he questioned.  
  
"Sixth year," she murmured. Just like he was. James wondered why he hadn't seen her before.  
  
"Well, what house are you in?"  
  
"Ravenclaw." Lily was starting to feel like she was in the middle of an interview.  
  
"Ravenclaw . . ." he repeated thoughtfully. That explained it. He had gone out with three of the Ravenclaws, three horribly ditzy, gossipy girls. This girl didn't look like that type. He assumed that she must have always stayed in the background.  
  
"Would you like to go out with me?" he asked her abruptly.   
  
Startled, Lily glanced upwards. Her eyes turned out to be a brilliant, sparkling green. James grinned, that irresistable grin that was supposed to make girls go weak at the knees. She was pretty, and he liked having pretty girlfriends. He did not doubt that she would accept.  
  
Lily thought for a minute. James's face lost its smile, and took on a look of surprise instead. Most girls eagerly snatched up his offer as soon as he had made it. The three other boys, Sirius, Remus and Peter, moved in a bit, to get a better view.  
  
Lily had never had a boyfriend before. She was so reticent that very few boys even noticed her. If any boy actually talked to her, she usually just brushed them off. No guy ever talked to her more than once. So James' question came as quite a surprise. However, it didn't take her long to make up her mind. It would be nice to be noticed for once, and by going out with James she would be in the spotlight for a week. It wouldn't matter that she didn't particularly like her boyfriend.  
  
"Okay," she replied.  
  
"Great!" James said exuberantly. "Okay, Lily, you do know my friends, right?" He gestured at the others.   
  
She nodded her head. "That's Sirius, Remus, and Peter, right?" she said, pointing to each one in turn.  
  
"Right." Sirius grinned, speaking for the first time. "Nice to meet you."  
  
Lily smiled, and then retreated back into her book. Once again James looked startled. He would have expected her to come over, sit in his lap, and start making out with him immediately. 'Obviously she finds her book more interesting than me,' he thought rather huffily. Dissmissing the thought, he returned to his discussion with his friends. At the moment, they were talking about their prank, the first of the school year.  
  
"Hmmm . . . how about for the feast, we put a potion in the Slytherin's food so that they can't stop coughing?" Sirius suggested.  
  
"Brilliant!" James exclaimed. He started to laugh. "Snape with a cough! Sirius, you are a genious."  
  
Sirius stood up and bowed. "Thank you, I know. What do you guys think?" he asked, turning to Remus and Peter.  
  
Peter stared at him in rapt attention. "That's wonderful! It is going to be the prank of the year! No one will ever forget it! How did you ever think of it, Sirius?!" Meanwhile, Remus merely smiled and nodded.  
  
Behind the protective cover of her book, Lily raised an eyebrow. Somehow, putting a Coughing Potion in the Slytherin's food didn't seem like the most creative thing to do. She had always thought that the Marauders pranks were overappreciated. People were far to apt to laugh at the stupidest things that they did. This particular prank would probably gain a dozen new admirers for them, but it really wasn't that good. If it was her, and she was the joking type, then things would be different.  
  
She sighed. She had always had a crazy idea that she, little goody-two-shoes Lily, would be good at planning pranks. For the past five years at Hogwarts, she had enjoyed taking the Marauder's jokes and improving them. Somewhere in her fourth year, she had even taken to writing a journal to record her ideas. By now, it was almost full.  
  
Every time that the Marauders pulled a prank, Lily wished that she could have been part of it. Whether it included Dungbombs or Fillibuster Fireworks (those two were the most common items), she could think of a way to make it better, if only she had known beforehand. But now, on the train, Lily realized with a jolt that for once she did know beforehand. They were going to put a Coughing Potion in the Slytherins food at tonight's feast.   
  
If it had been her, a Coughing Potion wouldn't have been used. She slipped her hand into the pocket of her robes and felt for the thin vial that contained her precious potion. She had used it at home, on her sister Petunia. Although she was prohibited from using magic in the muggle world, there were always ways to get around the rule. Anything that had been prepared while she was at Hogwarts was legal. This particular potion had been her goodbye present to dear Petunia. It had given her the appearance of a rabbit. Petunia's ears had become elongated, her nose was pink and moist, and she had grown long, coarse whiskers that quivered as she moved. Most amusing of all, she had a white poofy tail sticking out from the tail end of her dress. Since Petunia's natural mien was a bit horsy, this new look had made her look like some alien creature that was part human, part bunny, and part horse. Lily stifled a giggle as she thought about it.  
  
Now, that would have been a good potion to use on the Slytherins. The famous Snakes, transformed into a group of harmless, rather adorable bunnies! If only Lily could have gotten up the courage to do something about it. She wanted to, she really did. The one problem was that she didn't want to have to deal with the consequences. She didn't want the recognition. It was all very well to be seen as James Potter's weekly boyfriend, but any further than that would have been too much for timid Lily. Furthermore, she didn't know how the Marauders would react. Would they be mad? Happy? Would they congratulate her, or end up sending her to the hospital wing? At any rate, Lily didn't want to find out.   
  
It would be better if the prank could be anonymous. After all, she would be the last person that anyone would expect to have played a practical joke. The few people that knew her would have identified her as quiet and studious, definitely not a wild prankster.  
  
In one reckless moment, Lily made up her mind. 'I'll do it,' she thought. 'I know that I will always regret it if I don't. They won't find out. After all, what have I got to lose?'  
  
  
James didn't really come off as the most sensitive, loving kind of guy here, but don't worry. He really is nice. I will try to get the next part out as soon as possible.   
  
Please Review! 


	2. Coughing Bunnies

Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 2  
  
Before long, the train had reached its destination. Immediately, a crowd of students swarmed out of the door, fighting their way to get into the carriages. James grabbed Lily's elbow as as she was being jostled about, and led her forcefully to the nearest carriage. The other Marauders followed them closely.  
  
James held the door open for Lily like a gentleman. He even extended his hand to help her in, but she stepped up without even glancing at it. It was a tight fit inside the carriage, with James, Remus and Lily on one side, and Sirius and Peter on the other. For a minute, it looked as though James was going to offer her his lap as a seat, but thought the better of it. Lily gazed out the window for most of the ride, taking pleasure in the beauty of her surroundings. She pressed her nose against the glass of the window, ignoring the rumble of the carriage, and the way James fell into her at every turn in the road. It was sunset, and the lake was glistening in the dim light. She could see the tentacles of the giant squid curling above the waters surface occasionally. In the distance, the Forbidden Forest looked safe and friendly, a velvety mass of soft green.  
  
The ride didn't last long. Within minutes, everyone tumbled out of the carriages and into the Great Hall. That is, everyone but the Marauders and Lily. She trailed after them as they made their way to the kitchens. They seemed to have forgotten her presence. Over the years, Lily had found out that being quiet and shy could be more useful than any magic to make herself invisible. People simply forgot that she was there. She probably knew more about the lives of everyone at Hogwarts than Bertha Jorkins, the notorious gossip of the school.  
  
Right at the picture of the fruit bowl, the group stopped. James fished around in his pocket, and brought out an Invisibility Cloak. Lily worked hard to supress a gasp; she had to be quiet if she didn't want to boys to pay any attention to her. In fact, it would be best if they didn't even realize that she was there. For this purpose, Lily slipped under the cloak next to Peter, who seemed to be too preoccupied watching his feet to notice any of his surroundings. But poor Lily paid for this decision; her toes were black and blue for days afterwards because of Peter's clumsy footing.  
  
Lily had never been in the kitchens before. At first, she was stunned by the sheer size of it. It was at least as big as the Great Hall, with ceilings so high that she wondered how the Great Hall could fit above it. House elves were hustling about, preparing food for the night's feast. Everyone had something to do. Despite the Invisibility cloak, Lily felt unusally conspicuous, and not only because she was a few feet taller than everyone else. They seemed to be the only people there who weren't busy.  
  
The group worked their way through the kitchen to the table which held the Slytherins' food. Lily watched closely as Sirius produced a bottle from his pocket, which presumably held the coughing potion. He then proceeded to spread it liberally over the food, while the others watched and snickered.   
  
"This is going to be so good!" Sirius whispered, before leading the group back out of the kitchen.  
  
As the Marauders headed back to the Sorting, Lily ducked out from under the cloak and stepped back into the shadows, holding her breath. If this part of her plan didn't succeed, then she would have to give up on the whole thing. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice her absence. The boys chattered on about the look on Snape's face without a thought about her. In a way, Lily was a bit disappointed. "Even your boyfriend doesn't notice you!" she thought sadly. But it was better this way. She quickly said the words for an invisibility charm, and felt her body disappearing into thin air. She tingled all over from the magic. The charm was terribly hard; in fact, it was so advanced that it wasn't even taught at Hogwarts, although that could have been because of the havoc it could cause. But Charms had always been Lily's best subject. She had spent almost a year working on that particular spell.  
  
She slipped quietly back through the protrait hole, tickling the pear just as Remus had done. She strode over to the Slytherins' table, and extracted the vial from her pocket. She fingered it lovingly for a minute before she opened the bottle. Lily had invented this potion herself, in her fourth year, while she had stayed over for Christmas vacation. Out of all of the potions that she had invented, this was her favorite.   
  
She was jarred out of her reverie when a nearby house-elf bumped into her. The house-elf looked dazed for a minute, but picked himself up and proceeded on his way. Once he was gone, Lily wrenched the cap off of the vial and poured its contents onto the food. It shouldn't have any flavor at all, and the Slytherins would eat their food without any suspicion. It took approximately five minutes for the potion to work. Finally, the potion was all used up. Lily gazed at her work for a moment, before placing the vial back in her pocket and exiting the kitchen. Once outside, she muttered the countercurse for the invisibility spell, and headed towards the Great Hall.  
  
By the time that she slid into her seat, the Sorting was almost over. She received a couple of curious looks, but for the most part, people ignored her as usual. She waited eagerly until the food would appear on their plates.  
  
Snape was the first of the Slytherins to shove a forkful of potatoes into his mouth. The instant that the food touched his lips, he started coughing uncontrollably. Some of his friends patted him roughly on the back, thinking that he was choking. But as soon as they started to eat, the same thing happened to them. Snape managed to point a shaking finger at the Gryffindor table, before collapsing again in another fit.  
  
Lily looked over at the Marauders. They were laughing as if it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen in their life. Sirius was literally rolling on the floor in hysterics. Actually, they looked almost as bad as Snape did; the noise that they were emitting was almost equal in volume to the coughs that were coming from the Slytherin table. The girls that were cuddling up next to them were tittering too, but they were getting some weird looks from the rest of the hall.  
  
It was almost time for Lily's potion to start working. She waited with baited breath, her fingers crossed under the table. But just as she was starting to become nervous that something had gone wrong, Snape's nostrils started to twitch. His ears quivered, and they looked a bit larger and pinker than they had a minute ago. Lily peered around to get a view of his behind--there it was, a fluffy little cottonball sticking out of the seat of his pants, and growing larger every minute. Lily couldn't help herself; a giggle escaped her mouth in spite of all of her efforts to remain silent.  
  
Some of the other Slytherins were starting to be affected now. Lucius Malfoy had a pair of beautifully floppy, furry ears that hung past his shoulders. On the other hand, Avery's ears were standing tall, and they stiffened every time someone coughed. The Marauders were sitting straight up in their chairs now, watching in disbelief as the Slytherins were miraculously transformed.  
  
Snape watched in horror as he and his friends morphed into cute, huggable bunnies. The Marauders had done some pretty awful stuff to him before, but this was the worst. These were the Slytherins, the most mighty house of Hogwarts, revered by all that knew them! They were not supposed to be rabbits! He would not have minded so much if the Marauders had picked any other animal, but a bunny?! 'Well, it could have been worse,' he consoled himself. 'We could have been made into worms.' He tried to smile grimly, but his muzzle refused to stretch into that unfamiliar position. When he looked down, he noticed that he had started sprouting whispers, one at a time.   
  
As if that was the last straw, Snape suddenly bounded out of his chair, and sprinted straight at the Maruaders. He opened his mouth, and half of the people in the hall covered their ears, preparing for what was to come. But all that came out of his mouth was a loud cough. And another. With that, Lily abandoned all attempts at restraint, and laughed along with the rest of the Great Hall. Even Dumbledore couldn't keep a straight face, and his guffaws echoed throughout the room.   
  
"Professor Vane," he finally managed to get out, wiping tears from his eyes meanwhile, "Why don't you take our rather-erm-afflicted students to the Hospital Wing." The Head of Slytherin rose accordingly and swept out of the Great Hall, with the Slytherins hopping merrily along behind him.  
  
It was at least five minutes before the laughter in the Great Hall died down. Even then, there would be an occasional chortle from one part of the room or another. Lily smiled. The prank had gone wonderfully. At least, her prank had. Across the room, the Marauders were deep in conversation. The girls that had been with them before had been sent back to their own seats, and were now pouting. Sirius appeared to be stupefied, while James was gesturing wildly about him. Remus seemed to be hiding a smile, and Peter looked as if he wanted nothing so much as to dive under the table and stay there.   
  
'I want to do this again,' Lily decided. But how? She had only known of this prank beforehand by a piece of amazing luck. It would be too much to hope that it would happen again.  
  
  
  
  
Thank you for all of those wonderful reviews! I was so very happy when I got all of them. The next chapter should have a bit more from James's point of view.   
  
Please Review! 


	3. More from Mr. Right

You guys are the best reviewers I have! Everyone who reviewed, thank you so much!  
  
Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 3  
  
  
James was disgusted. Here he was, the perfect man, the so-called Mr. Right of every girl alive, and he was starting to have problems. Major problems. Two of them, to be precise.  
  
First and foremost, he had a girlfriend who wasn't playing her part. Somewhere in the back of his mind, James had an unwritten set of rules that all of his girlfriends were expected to follow. Rule Number One demanded that the girl be pretty, giggly, and would openly adore him. Lily was pretty, James admitted grudgingly, but in no way was she giggly, and if she adored him, she certainly kept it to herself.  
  
Whatever had posessed him to ask her out? Of course, he had needed a girlfriend, but there were tons of girls at Hogwarts. Almost anyone would have been better than her. But he had supposed that she was just shy. Once he asked her out, surely she would be less reserved.   
  
'James, stop moping!' he scolded himself. 'Whining won't get you anywhere. Think of a solution!' And so he thought. After a few minutes, he sighed softly. There was nothing to be done but break up with her. Oddly enough, James found himself feeling a bit guilty. Normally, he dumped approximately fifty two girls every year--that is, one a week. But he had never given up on a girlfriend before they had been together for three days. It was another rule of his. But in this case, he might have to make an exception.  
  
'I'll give her one more day,' James resolved. 'One more day to change her ways, and that's it.'  
  
The other problem involved the infamous prank that someone else had played on Snape earlier that day. No one else was supposed to play infamous pranks of any sort in this school other than the Marauders, much less on Snape. 'We claimed Snape as our target long ago!' James thought indignantly.  
  
Fortunately, this mystery prankster had not come forth for recognition. The Marauders could take full credit for the prank. 'But our own prank was ruined!' James growled to himself. 'Not that their prank wasn't good, but ours was better! They have to go away! They have to realize that we are the official pranksters in this school!'  
  
At that moment, his little fan club entered the room. James sighed again, stretched, and sat up straighter in the chair that he had been curled up in. No more thinking for now. As soon as the girls caught sight of him, they pranced on over and swarmed around him. Within minutes, James had two in his lap, one for each armrest, a girl perched behind him, and a beautiful blond gazing up at him from her position at his feet.  
  
It was this scene that Lily walked in on five minutes later.  
  
She paused at the door for a minute, quickly taking in the scene. It wasn't that surprising, actually. She didn't expect James to be totally faithful to her, the girlfriend that he didn't even notice. Nevertheless, she felt a pang in her heart when her own steady eyes met his startled brown ones. It wasn't that she was possessive, or domineering. She didn't even like him that much. But she would only be going out with him for a week, maybe even less. Surely it wouldn't hurt him to pay her some attention?  
  
As if in response to her unspoken wish, James sprang up from his chair at that moment, scattering the girls that had been sitting on him the moment before, and sprinted over to where Lily was standing. At this, the first year who had let her in scampered off in the other direction. He was feeling more hopeful at that moment than he had all day. Perhaps Lily had undergone a change of heart. After all, why had she come to the Gryffindor common room if not to be with him?  
  
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the chair with him. Lily was so surprised that she didn't react at all. He motioned for her to sit on his lap, and tugged gently on her hand. Lily raised her eyebrows at him, and James felt his heart sink, and finally settle somewhere in the pit of his stomach. She wasn't going to do it. She was going to embarass him in front of all of his friends and admirers.   
  
Lily hesitated for a minute, but then sat down on top of him. Her back was straight, and she seemed very stiff. James smiled, relieved. "Relax," he whispered in her ear. The other girls settled around him once again, but this time there were three on the floor. James cleared his throat, and the girls stopped their giggling to listen.  
  
"Girls, I'd like you to meet Lily, my girlfriend."   
  
A brunette, apparently the spokesperson of the group, spoke up. "But Jamesie, I thought that you were going out with Bertha!" she crooned, stroking James' hair gently.  
  
"No, that's all over now. I told you, Lily is my girlfriend."  
  
The girls glared at her for a minute, until once again the brunette took charge.   
  
"Aren't you that shy girl from Ravenclaw?" The girl smiled, but her smile was meant for James and not Lily.  
  
Lily blushed slightly. "Yes, I guess that's me," she said quietly.  
  
But before Lily could be interrogated any further, a new entrance interrupted the conversation. Out of the staircase that led to the boys dorm came the Marauders, minus James. Once again, James leapt up, and this time it was Lily who toppled to the ground. Great. Now in addition to her bruised toes, she could have a whole side stained black and blue. She groaned from the floor, and the other girls smiled at her pityingly. It was obvious that all of them had, at one time or another, gone through the same treatment.  
  
Soon, though, everything had settled down. Lily had decided to sit across from James this time, as it seemed to be a safer spot. Sirius plopped down right next to her and started chatting right away. "So," he said lightly, "Do you have any ideas for our next prank?"  
  
The girls looked at James, expecting him to come up with a new oh-so-brilliant idea.  
  
"Er . . . why don't we put a dungbomb in Snape's Caldron tomorrow so that the potion will explode on him? Also, the dungbomb should make him smell pretty gross."   
  
"Ooh . . . that's a good idea!" Sirius exclaimed. "Does anyone know what potion we're making tomorrow?"   
  
Lily glanced quickly around the circle. One girl was examining her nails, while another had whipped out her brush and was running it through her silky hair. Yet another was applying her third layer of lipstick since Lily had come in. No one seemed to know.  
  
Tentatively, Lily raised her hand. All eyes were on her. "Tomorrow we are making an itching potion," she murmured, so that Sirius had to lean in to catch her answer. A grin started to dawn on Sirius's face.  
  
"Perfect," he breathed.   
  
"Snape will be itching all day!" James rejoined, smirking.  
  
"Wow! Sirius, you are so brilliant! This is going to be even better than your last one. That was the prank of the year, but this is going to be the prank of the century! People will be talking about it for decades! This is going to be so much fun!" Peter squeaked.  
  
Lily was starting to wonder why it felt like she had been through this before.  
  
The instant that Peter fell silent, the ditzy girls stopped coating their faces with makeup and started chattering all at once. "Oh my God, that is going to be so funny!" "Whatever. Does my hair look okay?" "I can't wait until they do it!" "James is sooooooo hot!" "Your hair looks too perfect! Do you think I have enough lipstick on?"  
  
Lily retreated to the furthest corner of the couch to escape their squeals. She would have left right then, but she was a bit curious as to whether the Marauders would ever bring up her prank. But she assumed that they wouldn't mention it in front of their devoted fans. They couldn't risk losing face by doing something like that! Why, that could be devastating to their reputations!  
  
Lily checked her watch. It was ten o'clock in the evening. The girls wouldn't be retiring anytime soon, at least not until around eleven. She sighed, and moved to a corner near the fireplace.  
She seated herself, and brought forth a small book from her robes, along with a pen. She sat sucking it thoughtfully for a few minutes before starting to write.  
  
  
  
September 2, 1980  
  
Original Prank: Exploding a cauldron of itching potion on Snape's robes, by using dungbombs.  
  
Improvements: Don't just use itching potion. Add in some of your Dressy Potion#2, and change the Dungbombs to smell a bit more . . . feminine.  
  
  
Lily gave a satisfied smile before closing the book with a snap. When she looked up, she realized that the girls had left while she was engrossed in her writing. Sadly, the Marauders were gone too. All of that waiting for nothing. And James hadn't said goodbye--but then, what else could she expect? She sighed again softly. Lily collected her stuff and walked silently out of the dark common room, her mind still filled with thoughts of the prank that she was going to pull the next day.  
  
  
  
So what prank is Lily going to pull the next day? Read the next chapter to find out! It should be up pretty soon.  
  
Please Review!  



	4. Lady Snapey

Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 4  
  
  
She had to be inconspicuous. That was the key word. And that was the reason that Lily slipped into the Great Hall the next morning hidden behind the massive backs of Crabbe and Goyle. No one woud see her . . . not that they would have noticed her anyway, but she wasn't going to take chances. Instead of sliding into her regular seat at the far end of the Ravenclaw table, she headed for the Gryffindor Table. It wasn't as if she was doing anything against the rules; prefects could eat at whatever table they wanted. In fact, to most prefects it would probably seem absurd that she was embarassed by sitting at the Gryffindor table. But Lily could feel her face go scarlet as Crabbe and Goyle turned to the Slytherin table, leaving her to make her way to the Gryffindors without any shield. In her six years at Hogwarts, she had never sat anywhere but at the Ravenclaw table, in her own special chair.  
  
There were the Marauders. There was James . . . and in his hand Lily spied the trademark red of a dungbomb. Perfect. Her whole plan depended on him bringing the dungbombs to breakfast. Fortunately, he had. There wasn't an empty seat next to him, but after all, she was his girlfriend! If she came to sit next to him, he had better give her an empty seat. And now for what was possibly the hardest part for timid Lily; the acting.  
  
She walked up to James, trying to smile as brightly as she could at seven o'clock in the morning. "Hi, James!" she said.  
  
James turned around. "Lily!" he exclaimed, evidently surprised to see her. "Do you want to sit here?"  
  
She smiled again. "That would be nice. But I don't see any empty chairs."  
  
"Oh, right. Ummm . . ." James's eyes wandered over the group of giggling girls, and finally settled on the blond next to him. "Jessica, give Lily your seat, would you please?"  
  
Jessica pouted. "Do I have to?"   
  
"Please?" James wheedled, giving her his most charming grin.  
  
The girl blushed. "Oh, all right, James. Anything for you," she cooed. She got up from her chair, flashed a brilliant smile at James, a jealous scowl at Lily, and proceeded to go and sit in Sirius's lap.  
  
The silence hung uneasily between James and Lily. "So, what are you holding?" Lily finally said, in what appeared to be only an attempt to start a conversation.  
  
A wicked sparkle sprung into James eye. A rather sexy wicked sparkle, Lily thought to herself. It transformed him from a cute but rather preppy boy into someone that looked a bit more dangerous. 'Lily,' she scolded herself, 'Keep your mind on your work right now, will you? Later you can think about James . . . actually, later you can't think about James. You don't want to think about James. Why were you thinking about James? Answer that later.' With an effort, she called her mind back to the matter at hand.  
  
" . . . you do know what a Dungbomb is, don't you?" James was saying.  
  
"A . . . dungbomb? Oh, right, I've heard of those things, but I've never actually seen one."  
  
"Well, here's your chance. Do you want to hold it?"  
  
"Could I?"  
  
"Sure. Just put out your hand. And don't worry, it won't explode until I want it to."  
  
"Okay." The dungbomb was in her hand. Lily lifted it up over her plate and studied it. But as she moved to give it back to James, her elbow 'accidentally' knocked into a nearby glass of pumpkin juice and tipped it over, drenching the dungbomb.  
  
"Oh! I'm so sorry! It will still work, won't it? Here, I know a drying charm. Just a second." Lily pointed her wand at the wet Dungbomb. "Odryus," she muttered. It was a little charm of her own invention, combining the Perfume Spell with a Drying Charm. Good thing that James was hopeless at Charms. He would have no idea what she said. Lily handed him the Dungbomb, and he inspected it for a moment before putting it in his pocket, apparently satisfied that it was still in good condition.  
  
  
  
Two long hours had to pass before Lily finally got to Potions class. With every minute, Lily became less and less brave, and more and more convinced that she should never have interfered in the prank. By the time she opened the door to Potions, she had almost persuaded herself to forget all about the prank. But it was too late to back out now, since she had already changed the Dungbomb. Lily was sure that she was turning a bit green, as if she was about to be sick. At least, she felt green.  
  
Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about being caught by the teacher. The Potions teacher, Professor Abott, was terribly inept. It was about all he could do to assign them a page in their books to follow. He certainly wouldn't be watching.   
  
The students filed into the classroom, talking noisily. The Professor was sitting at his desk, gazing absentmindedly into the empty cauldron in front of him. Lily took her usual seat at the back of the room. Severus Snape sat right in front of her.  
  
Five minutes after the class had all taken their seats, Professor Abott's head jerked up. "You all can make Itching Potions today," he said, yawning slightly. "I'm sure you can all find what page it is on." And with that, he went back to staring into space.  
  
Severus Snape was probably the only person in the class that actually followed the Professor's orders, besides Lily. He busied himself mixing together the ingredients the moment the teacher gave him the instructions. Lily could hear him muttering under his breath, "Lacewing flies . . . a bit more . . . yes that's right . . . it should turn green any second now . . ."  
  
The Marauders were laughing on the other side of the room. Snape stopped concentrating on his potion and looked up. "Hey Bunny, when was the last time you washed your hair?" Sirius called from across the room.   
  
Lily took a deep breath. She had to do it now. It might be the only time that Snape was distracted during the entire lesson. She reached within the folds of her robes, and pulled out a small container. Inside was a clear green liquid; it could pass for the same color as the itching potion, although there was a subtle difference. But this paricular substance was known to Lily as Dressy Potion#2. Lily stood up, jar in hand, and started to walk across the room. No one payed any attention to her; the class was so chaotic already that finding a student actually working was rare.   
  
Lily paused as she reached Snape's desk. Snape was across the room, shouting some insult at Sirius, probably. She quickly unscrewed the jar and dumped its contents into the cauldron. Quietly, she returned to her seat, and bent her head studiously over her cauldron. If she looked up from under her eyelashes, she could see the potion in Snape's cauldron start to simmer.  
  
Snape glanced over at his cauldron. It was starting to boil. He ran back over to it, ignoring Sirius's jeers. He added the last ingredient, and watched in satisfaction as the liquid thickened slowly.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, James Potter was sneaking up behind him, covered by his handy dandy Invisibility Cloak. But he had no time to think of James when a Dungbomb splashed into his cauldron and immediately exploded, soaking Snape in his own potion.  
  
As soon as the potion touched his skin, Snape started itching. So he scratched himself. Soon his skin was pink from the constant scratching, and his face was gradually growing redder as he tried to supress his laughter.  
  
While Lily watched, a miraculous transformation took place. Not only was Snape's skin turning pink, but his robes seemed to have a rather rosy tint as well. 'Now that would be the Dressy Potion kicking in,' Lily thought, smiling slightly. Around his neck, a lacy collar was emerging. And as Snape whirled around in his attempt to scratch his back, Lily could see a large, red sash tied in an elaborated bow flowing over his robes. By then, the cloth was a hot magenta.  
  
It was at this point that people began to notice the smell. Up until then, they had been so absorbed in watching Snape's act that they had ignored the odor. But eventually, it became so strong that it could no longer be ignored. Pervading the air was the stink of perfume, of cheap, gaudy, sickeningly sweet perfume. Lily coughed, and plugged her nose. But even then, the smell came up her nostrils and threatened to stifle her.  
  
Finally, a girl shrieked out, "Where is that smell coming from?"  
  
James stood up and pointed at Snape. "It's him!" he managed to gasp out through his laughter. "Snapey's a lady!"  
  
Sanpe was hopping around in circles, plugging his nose with one hand and scratching his leg with the other. The air was filled with his high pitched giggles. And as he twirled, his bright pink skirt flared up around his legs, exposing the pink boxers beneath. Lily looked closer . . . pink boxers with little red hearts. Awww!  
  
Everyone in the class, excluding Snape, was gagging in their efforts not to laugh. If they laughed, they would choke on the smell. If they didn't laugh . . . but they couldn't not laugh! It was just impossible. Some people had succeeded in keeping a straight face right up until they saw Snape's pink boxers. After that, everyone was rolling on the floor clutching their sides. Through her tears of laughter, Lily glanced up, and saw that even the Professor was tittering. Now that was an amazing feat.  
  
  
  
  
A/N: I'm sorry this part has taken so long to get out. But it wasn't really that long, it was just longer than the other parts. Before anyone flames me about it, I do know that in Harry's time it would be impossible to have Slytherins, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws all in one class. But this was quite a few years earlier, so the rules weren't necessarily exactly the same.  
  
I wanted to make another page thanking my reviewers, but last time I did that everyone complained that they had thought I put up anotyher chapter. So I will put it all here. The names don't come in any particular order, and I am only mentioning the names once.  
  
P-chan, mari, Pucktricks, Hogwarts chica, lily girl, Jill Fleming, Angelusette, Enigma, Firefly, starkitty, starlett_leo027, Jagara, lee-anne, DragonDung, A girl without a purpose, UnforgivenChild, Star Fish, janie, Little Witch, Memory, gurl, Prongs, Hedwig, JustMe, zannuuh, Tifa Gainsborough, Su, serenity, Cat Samwise, Miss Padfoot, StarChildHlermione86, Kathy, Danielle, Evil Fiona, ~*Daisy*~, Cat Bonner, Meffles, Kate, Animagi Marauder, izzy, shana, Lucinda, Claire Goodyear, E-wok, Chibiusa, fasd, Justine, Nari, rebbecca, Elise, waking star, Nikki, a reviewer, WENDY, THE DODGER, 14HP, Mu The Mucca, Carrie, LissaLapin, Zelda, LongLongHair, Pucktricks. Thank you all so much!  
  
Please Review!  



	5. All is Revealed . . .

Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 5  
  
  
It was a while before James's mind could process the fact that the Marauder's prank had gone wrong once again. The reality finally hit him in the middle of his next class, Transfiguration. He was staring at the blackboard, thinking of Snape in pink, and snickering to himself, when he suddenly remembered that dressing Snape up had not been the original prank. No . . . wait, what was it? Oh . . . the Itching Potion. James could feel his blood start to boil. Who dared to interfere with the Marauders pranks?! They would suffer for that. He would make them rue the day that they had ever decided to take over his prank! There was only one drawback . . . who was it?  
  
James nudged Sirius in the arm. "Hey, Sirius!" he whispered while McGonagall's back was turned.   
  
"Hmm? What is it?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Do you know who did the prank on Snape?"  
  
Sirius looked confused. "What are you talking about, James? Don't you remember planning it? You know, the prank of the century, the creation of Lady Snapey by us, the Almighty Marauders? Don't tell me you forgot!"  
  
"No, Sirius, we were planning on exploding Snape's Itching Potion, but we didn't add anything else to it."  
  
Realization dawned on Sirius's face. "But then, who did it?" he said, panicking slightly. "I mean, we're the Marauders at this school! There's no way that some little upstart prankster is going to outprank us! It just can't happen! Ouch! What was that for? Err . . . I mean . . ." Sirius subsided into silence when James's poke alerted him to the deathly glares that McGonagall was shooting in his direction.  
  
After a few minutes, James thought it was safe to reopen the conversation. McGonagall was occupied with some incompetent Hufflepuff who had just transfigured her nose into a tomato, and who was presently wailing at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Listen, Sirius, we need to find out who it was!"  
  
Sirius, who had been chuckling at the poor girl's mishap, immediately sobered. "I know."  
  
"Let's call an emergency meeting of the Marauder's for next period."  
  
"But we-"  
  
James cut in before Sirius could finish his sentence. "Yes, I know we have class, but who cares about History of Magic anyway?"  
  
"I suppose you're right. Besides, since when have the Marauders let a little thing like class keep them from more important matters? I'll go tell Peter; you tell Remus, okay?"  
  
James nodded. "You don't need to tell them all about it now. Just make sure that they come to the meeting."  
  
  
  
That was why fifteen minutes later the four Marauders were huddled outside of the Transfiguration classroom.  
  
"So what are we doing here?" Remus asked. He had an expression of undisguised annoyance across his face at the moment; after all, James and Sirius didn't have to study for their grades, and Peter honestly didn't care, but he wanted to pass History of Magic. And skipping class wasn't going to help his grade at all.  
  
"I'll tell you when we find a place that we can talk," James hissed.  
  
"We can go to one of our secret passages!" Peter squeaked.  
  
Sirius shook his head. "No, we don't need to go that far. We can just go to the Gryffindor Common Room. Nobody would be in there during class."  
  
"Okay, let's go then," Remus said impatiently. And with that, the four boys started the walk up to Gryffindor Tower. Just outside of the portrait hole, they paused.  
  
"Umm . . . what was that new password again?"  
  
"It was changed?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so."  
  
"Why don't you try 'pheonix'? That was the last one. It can't hurt."  
  
"Okay . . . pheonix?' The Fat Lady snored gently. "She's asleep again." James leaned in near her ear. "Pheonix!"   
  
The Fat Lady awoke with a start. "Goodness, dears, you startled me. Now go away. If you don't have the password, there's no need for you to disturb my beauty sleep."  
  
The four sighed simultaneously. There was no way to get into the Common Room without the password.  
  
"You guys, we could just talk here," Peter said. "No one would hear us."  
  
"I guess you're right, Peter," Sirius said. He looked at James. "Are you going to tell them?"  
  
"Right . . . well, you know that prank in Potions this morning? Where Snape showed us his . . . ahem! . . . feminine side?" The group chortled quietly. "You guys might have thought that Sirius and I planned that without you. But the truth is that neither of us took part in the prank. Did any of you do it?" Remus and Peter shook their heads. James sighed. "Then it seems that we have another prankster in our midst." Remus and Peter gasped in shock. "The question is, what are we going to do about it?"  
  
All thoughts of History class forgotten, Remus spoke up. "Do you have any idea who it is?"  
  
"Unfortunately, no."  
  
"Maybe we should think over the most likely people in our class to be a prankster," Sirius suggested.  
  
"That's a good idea!"  
  
"But it could take a while."  
  
"Well, why don't we all sit down. My legs are getting tired, and you're right, this could take quite a while."  
  
The four boys sunk to the floor. But just as he was getting comfortable, James noticed a small lump under him. It wasn't comfortable. He stood up, and bent down to see what he had been sitting on. "A book?" he said out loud.  
  
The others looked up at him. "What?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just sat on a book, that's all." James moved to place it back against the wall.  
  
"What book was it?" Remus interrupted him.  
  
"I don't know; it doesn't have a title."  
  
"Here, give it to me." James handed Remus the book. He started leafing through it. "Lily's Journal," he read.  
  
"Lily? Lily Evans? As in my girlfriend?"  
  
Remus looked amused. "I suppose so, considering that she is the only girl named Lily in the whole school."  
  
"I shouldn't read it. She must have dropped it on her way to the Ravenclaw common room . . . I saw her writing in it last night."  
  
"Let me see it!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
Remus held out the book for Sirius to take. James grabbed it.  
  
"James! What do you think you're doing? I was just going to look at it!"  
  
"Sirius, what would she think? I'm sure she wouldn't want you reading her journal."  
  
Now Sirius looked truly astonished. "Since when do you care what a girl thinks of you? Don't tell me that you actually like her!"  
  
James blushed slightly, but quickly returned to his normal color. "I like all of my girlfriends, Sirius."  
  
"No, I mean do you really like her? More than the other girls? It's the only time that I've seen you going out with a girl that wasn't a total airhead."  
  
"No, I don't."  
  
"Well then why do you care whether or not we read her diary or whatever it is?"  
  
"Fine, I don't care. Happy? Take it." James tossed the book to Sirius and leaned against the wall casually, apparently engrossed in inspecting a small crack in the ceiling.  
  
Sirius opened the book and started flipping pages. As he progressed through the book, his eyes grew wide, and his face paled until it looked almost transparent.  
  
"What is it?" Remus asked. James stopped staring at the crack, and looked at Sirius, concerned.  
  
"Do you want me to go get the nurse?" Peter asked.  
  
Sirius shook his head violently. "No, no, don't do that!"  
  
"Then what is it?" Remus inquired.  
  
Sirius turned to look at James squarely in the eyes. "James, it's her. Lily is the other prankster."  
  
Now it was James's turn to blanche. He staggered backwards and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. "Lily . . . you can't mean Lily my girlfriend?"  
  
"I'm afraid so, James. Here, I'll show you. Look." Sirius pointed to a certain page near the end of the book.   
  
  
September 1, 1980  
  
Original Prank: Feeding the Slytherins a Coughing Potion.  
  
Improvements: Add in a bit of your Bunny Concoction.  
  
  
James was turning a light, pasty green as he read through this exerpt. In fact, he looked as if he was going to faint any minute. Quickly, Remus conjured a large bucket of water and dumped it over James's head. James looked up at Sirius from under the bucket, streams of water pouring down his face. He looked bewildered, and rather ridiculous.  
  
"But--I don't understand--" he stuttered weakly.  
  
"Don't you see, James? Lily is the one that has been interfering with our pranks all along. It was her, James. Your girlfriend is a prankster at heart."  
  
  
  
  
I can finally celebrate my first rather pathetic attempt at a cliffhanger! Not much, but it's a start. The next chapter will let you know exactly how James reacts to this interesting piece of news. Also, there will be more of Lily in the next part.  
  
You can expect a thank-you list every couple of chapters from now on. To all of you reviewers out there, a big hug to all of you! This is my first story to go above 113 reviews . . . I'm still in shock. You are the reason that I wrote this chapter so quickly. If you want me to review one of your stories, just tell me so in your review, and I will.  
  
To UnforgivenChild: I don't think that JK Rowling ever said anything about Lily having been in Gryffindor. If she did, then this is all just artistic liscence, I suppose. As for her class, go back to last chapter's A/N. I tried to explain it there. Thank you for your reviews!  
  
Please Review!  
  



	6. 

I'm sorry that this took so long to get out. I had a small catastrophe, besides a ton of schoolwork. You see, I had this outline for the story all typed up on the computer, but somehow it was lost, so I had to think up a whole new plot. I don't think it's that different from the last one, but it took a while to create it. So I'm sorry again.  
  
  
  
  
Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 6  
  
  
Lily sat in the middle of Transfiguration class, absently biting her nails. Class was boring. Of course, there was that poor Hufflepuff who no longer had any decent nose, but even that was an everyday occurence. She looked over at the Marauders. Naturally, Sirius was laughing his head off at the Hufflepuff and her tomato. But James was just staring off into space. Lily wondered how long it would take him to realize that it hadn't been his prank. He couldn't have figured it out already; he didn't look at all mad. In fact, he still had a dreamy smile on his face, as if he were savoring the memory of Snape's beautiful boxers.   
  
Suddenly, James seemed to come out of his trance. A look of intense anger passed over his face, followed by one of perplexity. Lily smiled; she knew what James was thinking of. It hadn't taken him as long as she had thought that it would for him to discover the truth, given her low opinion of his intelligence.  
  
He was talking to Sirius now. They wouldn't just sit there and do nothing while a mystery prankster took over their occupation; after all, they were Gryffindors. But Lily was by no means sure of their next course of action. Not that it mattered, of course. It wasn't her business. Nevertheless, she watched them intently.   
  
As McGonagall released the students from her classroom, it seemed to Lily that the Marauders were a bit more eager than usual to go to their next class. They had Divination next; why should they be in such a hurry to get there? To hear Trelawney yapping away about who was going to be the next to die? Not likely. And besides, wasn't Divination in the opposite direction? So where were they going?  
  
'I don't care,' Lily told herself resolutely. "They can go to China if they want to. I'm not going to follow them. I have a class to attend." There was just one problem. If they discussed any future pranks, she wouldn't be able to hear them. And if she couldn't hear them, she wouldn't know beforehand what they were going to do so that she could add her own finishing touch. 'Well, that's easily remedied,' Lily thought. She pointed her wand at the retreating figures of the Marauders and whispered, "Audium". Good. Now she would be able to hear their conversation without any trouble. Lily slipped her wand back into her pocket and proceeded on the way to Charms, a satisfied smile spread across her face.  
  
  
  
  
It was possibly the first time that Lily hadn't payed attention in Charms, which was usually her favorite subject. But this time, Professor Flitwick's words of wisdom proved less interesting than the conversation taking place outside of the Gryffindor Common Room. Professor Flitwick expressed his concern for Lily when she didn't respond to his question, but he readily accepted her excuse that she was tired.   
  
They had found her journal. They had better not read it . . . they wouldn't dare! Lily was on the edge of her seat, unconcsiously digging her nails into her skin, praying that they would not read it. She had sighed with relief when James rescued her (he wasn't such a bad guy after all!) and almost screamed when he gave in to the pressure (scratch that, he was as bad as they could get!). She wanted to run up to the Marauders, grab her precious book, and curse them until she couldn't tell who was who anymore. But unfortunately, she was in the middle of class, and a good girl would never run out on Professor Flitwick like that. She could get her first detention!  
  
Suddenly, the voices in Lily's head rose in volume. Lily put her hands over her ears to shut out Flitwick's incessant lecturing, and concentrated solely on the Marauders' discussion.   
  
"We can't let her in the group!" James was saying in a panicked voice.  
  
"Why not?" Remus inquired.  
  
"Err . . . you just can't, okay! She's my girlfriend!"  
  
"James, you can't control her, even if she is your girlfriend."  
  
"I know, but it would be weird having a prankster for a girlfriend, that's all."  
  
"James, your girlfriend already is a prankster. Besides, she won't be your girlfriend forever," Remus reminded him gently.  
  
"Oh. Right. Well then, what about our reputation? We can't let in some unpopular Revenclaw to our exalted group!"  
  
"Think of it this way, James." Sirius's loud voice filled Lily's head. "Either Lily is going to be a prankster on our side, or she is going to be a prankster against us. It's as simple as that."  
  
"I just don't think that she would be a good Marauder!" James sounded desperate.  
  
"How about we take a vote?" Remus suggested. "Who thinks that Lily should be a new Marauder? I know I do, but who else?"  
  
"Me," Sirius said.  
  
"Peter? What about you?"  
  
"Umm, well, I don't really care, that is, whatever the rest of you want."  
  
"Peter, you have to vote!" Three astonished voices sounded simultaneously.  
  
"You agree with me, don't you Peter?" James asked anxiously.  
  
"Umm, I guess so. I mean, she is a girl and all."  
  
Sirius snorted. "That's a good thing, Peter."  
  
"Well, I think it should just be us four."  
  
"Don't try to pressure him into changing his mind!" James exclaimed indignantly. "He said he agrees with me! So that settles it. The Marauders are staying the way they are."  
  
"James, it was a tie."  
  
"But still--"  
  
"Why don't we ask her?" Remus interrupted.  
  
"Huh?" "What?" "Why would we do that?"  
  
"Well, she might not want to be a Marauder, you know."  
  
"Of course she would!" Sirius scoffed.   
  
Back in Charms, Lily bridled. "Hmmph!" she said under her breath. "We'll see about that!"  
  
"Everyone wants to be a Marauder!" Peter made it sound as if being a Maruader was the highest honor that a person could possibly receive.  
  
Lily could feel her temper start to rise. And she was positive that James would only make it worse when his turn came. But surprisingly, he didn't give his opinion immediately. Instead, it seemed like he was actually contemplating his response! And when it came, it was the last thing that Lily had expected . . .  
  
"You know, I'm not too sure," James said thoughtfully. "She might not. Remus, that wasn't such a bad idea after all!" Lily could feel her eyes grow wide in shock.  
  
"What?!" Peter sounded horrified. "What kind of person wouldn't want to be a Marauder?" Apparently, James sent him some sort of quelling glare, because a minute later, he added "I mean, of course you're right James, but still . . ."  
  
"But what? Remus had a good idea!" James announced jubilantly.  
  
"That's was I was going to say," Peter put in quickly. Sirius snorted again incredulously.  
  
"So let's go ask her!"   
  
"Are you sure?" Sirius still sounded dubious.  
  
"Of course I'm sure."  
  
"All right then," he grumbled.  
  
The charm was beginning to wear off by now; the voices were fading so that Lily had to strain to hear what they were saying.  
  
"When will we ask her?" Peter's voice sounded as if it were coming from a great distance.  
  
"Tonight." James sounded positive. "Right after dinner."  
  
A moment later, the voices lapsed into silence, and Lily became aware of her surroundings. But learning anything that class would be impossible. One question echoed through Lily's head: 'Should I be a Marauder . . . or not?'  
  
  
  
  
  
This is kind of short, I know. I'm sorry, but this seemed like a good place to end. Read the next part to find out what Lily decides! I don't know how soon I will get the next part up. It might be a while, because I have a lot of work, as I already said, and finals are looming ahead. But then, I am horrible at predicting this stuff.  
  
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! You are my motivation. The more people there are that like the story, the more I want to write! I actually have a whole theory behind reviews and my need for them. If anyone is curious about it, I'll be happy to explain.  
  
Please Review! 


	7. Bickering

Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 7  
  
  
  
When the Marauders approached Lily that night after supper, she still hadn't decided whether she ought to accept their offer graciously or to throw it right back in their face, accompanied by a long list of all of their sins. She was tempted to do the latter, but then what would become of her pranks? She couldn't continue when the Marauders knew that she was the behind it all. They could reveal her identity to the whole school.   
  
Lily was so engrossed in her ponderings that she didn't notice when James came up to the Ravenclaw table, followed by his friends, and sat down next to her. In fact, Lily probably would never have noticed if it hadn't been for the loud and flirtatious giggle of one particular Ravenclaw girl. Her ringing laugh woke Lily from her daydream immediately.   
  
James started to speak, ignoring the stares and the titters of the other girls. "We need to talk," he told Lily, looking uncharacteristically solemn.   
  
Lily nodded. "Okay," she said simply.  
  
James checked to see that no one was listening. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to Lily. "We know that you are the prankster," he said directly, watching her face for her reaction. She looked remarkably unsurprised.  
  
"You read my journal," she stated.  
  
James looked slightly disconcerted. "Well, yes," he mumbled. "How did you know?"  
  
"And you want me to be a part of your group."  
  
James looked a bit more disconcerted. "Were you eavesdropping on us?" he demanded.  
  
Lily smiled mysteriously. "Perhaps."  
  
James was becoming very annoyed very quickly. He didn't like not knowing things. And at the moment, he didn't like Lily at all. He was starting to regret the decision that he had made earlier to let her become a member of the Marauders. "Well, we don't actually want you in. I mean, we would let you in if you really wanted to come, but we don't actually need you or anything."   
  
Lily's green eyes flashed dangerously. She might have been thinking about giving him a chance before, but that was over now. "No, thank you," she replied coldly. "I can think of decent pranks on my own."  
  
Lily happened to glance over at Sirius. He looked stunned. His mouth was hanging open. She grinned at him. Sirius closed hi mouth. In a minute, he had regained his composure enough to speak coherently. Right away, he started to plead for his cause. "Please, Lily! We do want you to be part of our group," he said, putting his hand over James's mouth, and hoping that Lily wouldn't notice the muffled and rather ferocious sounds that James was making. "You just have to! You can't say no to the Marauders!" He smiled what he hoped was an irresistable grin.   
  
Now Lily was starting to get very angry. "Excuse me, but I don't have to do anything. Especially if you are the person ordering me around. You act like it is some kind of high honor to be a Marauder. But I don't want to be one, and I'm not honored. Goodbye," she said, hoping that the finality in her tone would convince Sirius to leave.  
  
It didn't. Sirius was starting to look desperate. It wouldn't be safe to have a girl like this opposing them! He just had to have her on their side. "Please--"   
  
But before he could finish his sentence, James finally succeeded in breaking free of Sirius's grip. "It's okay, Sirius," he interrupted. "She isn't that good anyway. Her pranks aren't any better than ours. in fact, ours are a lot better. I bet that even if she did join our group, she wouldn't be any help."  
  
Lily glared at him. "Do you really want to bet on that?" she asked. "Because I just might take you up on your offer."  
  
James smirked. "Sure," he said carelessy.  
  
"Okay, then. I'll join your little group, and you'll see that I can make your pranks a lot more interesting and a lot less trite than they are now."  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
Remus spoke up for the first time. "But I want you guys to have a truce while Lily is a Marauder. No fighting, no whining, no bickering, okay?"  
  
Lily smiled. "Of course." She held out her hand to James. He took it gingerly and shook it. "There now, it's official. Oh, and just one more thing. Don't tell anybody about me being a prankster. Please."  
  
Remus looked curious. "Why not?"  
  
"I just don't want everyone to know."  
  
He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, then. We won't tell anybody."  
  
Lily looked relieved. "Thanks."  
  
An uncomfortable silence settled over the group.  
  
"So, do you guys do anything besides playing pranks?" Lily queried.  
  
Peter, who had been half-asleep, woke up at this question and started to talk eagerly. "Yeah, Remus is a wmmph--meem! Rememmpph!" Peter's speech had been unceremoniously cut short by a hand that was hastily thrust across his mouth and a kick in his leg.  
  
"What?" Lily asked, bewildered.  
  
James glanced at Remus, who was whispering angrily to Peter. He lowered his voice. "He was going to say that--er--Remus is a really bad prankster. Please don't let Remus know that I told you this, though. He doesn't like other people to know."  
  
"Is that really it?" Lily looked at James intently, searching for any sign that he was lying.  
  
"Yes!" James's eyes didn't exactly meet hers fairly, but . . . Lily gave it up. She couldn't force the boy to tell the truth. She didn't have any Veritaserum handy at the moment.  
  
James continued. "As for other stuff that we do, we find secret passages. We sneak out to Hogsmeade. We created a map of Hogwarts. It shows where everyone is in the castle. I'll show it to you someday. It's really cool."   
  
Although she tried not to show it, Lily was slightly impressed by this list. So the Marauders actually did something more worthwhile than giving Snape coughs. It was an interesting discovery.  
  
Peter piped up again, although Remus remained hidden in a corner. "Why don't we go to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"   
  
Sirius's face lit up. "Yeah! Let's go! We can meet by kitchens at lunch tomorrow."  
  
"But how will we go there without getting caught? It's the middle of the week!" Lily protested.   
  
"Lily, I told you, we know where there are passages leading to Hogsmeade. No one else knows about them. Besides, I have an invisibility cloak. The teachers won't catch us, don't worry," James said impatiently.   
  
"I'm not worried. Fine, we'll go tomorrow. I'll see you then." And with that she stalked off, leaving the boys to glare at Peter and whisper among themselves.  
  
  
  
  
  
Wow, I never even dreamed that my story would have this many reviews. I'm so happy! Thank you all so much! Here is a list of all the wonderful, fabulous, lovely people that have reviewed since Chapter Four:  
  
  
Sandrilene Anastasia, Angel of Music, KittenGirl555, Evans & Potter, lee-anne, JustMe, Daphne Black, kellie1vy, Draco'sGirl, Lily White, Brittalia, shampoo ul copt, StarChildHermione86, Fred, George, and Lee, ~*~Hermione~*~, UnforgivenChild, mari, Puppygal, Meffles, Evil Fiona, ;p, lyndsey, Cat Samwise, George and Fred, Hedwig, miss padfoot, starkitty, ~wicked*witch~, Malfoy's Best Friend, ali, gurl, moon bunnie, ayla, Tifa Gainsborough, Ecila, gueswho, LilyAyl, An Angel without a halo, Ankita, Miss padfoot, Stella Evans, naavi0, George's #1 Luv, Lola, Lilly Girl, Hogwarts chica, Lene, Dementia, Danielle, BadMoonlight, dodger, Star Fish, ~*Charmsangel*~, Princess Latifah, Cassandra Lynn, 2 lazzzy 2 log in..hehehe, Pucktricks, starkitty, star beneath the stairs, Anne, lily girl, Slytherinette, *Sellene*, Ruriko, Rogue Dragon, serenity, bobo, jacuzzi, ru, jo, Lilly, Professor Squiggly, johanna, She's a Star, Yerdua, zannuuh, Ron's Babe, E-wok, SiriusLover.  
  
  
I love you all! If any of reviewers want me to review one of their stories, please just let me know in your review.  
  
  
Once again, this is rather short, but I thought that even a short chapter is better than nothing. I should have a lot of time to write after my finals are over, which is in a week. So you can be expecting more from me during the summer.  
  
  
Please Review!  



	8. Accidental Quality Time

Disguised as a Good Girl: Chapter 8  
  
  
Lily stood by the ticklish pear, tapping her foot impatiently. One more minute until they were all late. Only one more minute. And she was not going to sit there waiting for the boys if they didn't show up on time. If it wasn't worth their time and effort be there when they promised, then she had better things to do. She could be doing homework, or curled up comfortably in a cushioned chair reading, or studying for the N.E.W.T.s, or curled up comfortably in a soft chair reading, or . . . "Why am I doing this?" Lily moaned softly.  
  
A perky face wearing an all too familiar mischevious grin materialised in front of her. Sirius. Lily groaned. "You've been here all along, haven't you?"  
  
Three more heads popped up. James, Peter, and Remus, respectively. All three were grinning madly. "You're doing this because you love us," Sirius announced. "You know you do. Or at least, you love James." James reddened slightly. Wait a minute . . . Lily moved in for a closer look. James Potter blushing? Perhaps it was just the lighting . . . yes, that was probably it. Whatever it was, it was gone now, and James staring at her with his eyebrows raised. She couldn't blame him; she must have looked rather odd while she was peering intently at his face. Lily stepped back as she realized what she was doing.  
  
"What is it?" James asked curiously.  
  
"Umm . . . nothing. Shall we go now?" Lily asked, quickly changing the subject.  
  
"Okay. Get under the cloak."   
  
A few minutes later, after quite a lot of complaining and bumping and stubbed toes and knocked heads, Lily found herself squished between James and Peter. She was hot and uncomfortable and grumpy and she didn't like the way James's elbow kept pushing into her side . . . "We don't have to wear this thing the whole time we are there, do we?" she hissed in James's ear, frowning as his hair tickled her nose.  
  
"No," James whispered back. "As soon as we get to the tunnel, we can get out from under the cloak."  
  
Lily breathed a small sigh of relief, smiled, and winced as Peter's heavy foot came sharply down on top of her toes. "Peter, could you try and look where you're stepping?" she complained.  
  
"Sorry," Peter said apologetically. He looked up as he talked to meet Lily's eye. Lily had a slight sense of foreboding--Peter should have his attention firmly focused on his feet--and sure enough, an instant later, Peter was lying flat on his back, grasping his ankle. He had tripped over an unexpected stair in their path. The ankle looked painfully twisted.   
  
Lily dropped down besides him, and the other boys gathered around, their faces wrought with concern, leaving the cloak to fall to the floor. "Are you okay?" she asked.   
  
Peter's face was contorted with pain, and tears were starting to seep out from under his eyelids. "I don't think so," he whimpered. "It . . . hurts."  
  
"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Remus inquired.  
  
"I don't know," Peter sniffled.  
  
"Can you walk?" Sirius spoke up.  
  
"I don't think so . . . I can try, if you like."  
  
"No, you don't need to do that. Listen, we'll help you stand up. You can lean on Remus and me for support; that way, if you can't walk, at least you won't fall. If you need help, we'll get you to the hospital wing. Okay?"   
  
Peter nodded. Remus and Sirius both grasped one of Peter's hands, while James stood behind to catch him if he fell. Slowly, with quite a bit of assistance from the other boys, Peter managed to rise to his feet, grimacing as he put weight on the injured ankle. He didn't look as if he could stand on his own, much less walk. He tentatively put one foot forward, and fell back into the arms of his friends. "You guys, I don't think I can do it," he gasped out.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Remus said kindly. "We'll just take you up to the hospital wing. You don't mind if we go to Hogsmeade without you, do you?"   
  
"No, that's fine."  
  
"Lily, James, why don't you two go to Hogsmeade ahead of us? You can go get a Butterbeer or something. We'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks. We shouldn't be long."  
  
"Wait a minute," Lily cut in. "I'm not sure that's the best idea. We can just wait, you know, and then we can all go together--except Peter, of course."   
  
"Listen, we just want to get Peter up to the hospital wing fast." Remus spoke urgently. "We don't need your help, that would be too many people, it would be confusing. Besides, you know that Madam Rellan doesn't like too many kids to be up there at once."  
  
"What will you do without the cloak?"  
  
"Lily, we've been pranksters for a long time. Longer than we have had the cloak. Trust me, we know how to get around without being seen."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Just go. We'll meet you there soon. James, if we're not there in an hour, just come on back."  
  
Reluctantly, Lily picked up the cloak and shoved it over her head. James followed her and started walking down the length of the hallway. Now that there were only two people under the cloak, they moved along at a much quicker pace. Walking with James wasn't that bad, Lily reflected. Unlike Peter, he kept his feet to himself, and his elbow was no longer jostling her every few seconds. And away from his crowd of admirers, he seemed more relaxed, as if he didn't feel like he needed to impress everyone all the time. He didn't even make any effort to start a conversation, but instead walked in silence.  
  
He stopped abruptly besides the grey stone statue of a one-eyed witch. He pulled his wand out, and, pointing it at the statue, murmured "Dissendium." Lily watched, wide-eyed, as the hump of the statue slowly slid open, revealing a small opening that undoubtedly was the entrance to the tunnel. James looked around, and, confident that no one was watching, slipped out from under the cloak. "Follow me," he whispered. A moment later, he had disappeared into the blackness behind the statue.  
  
Lily tentatively climbed into the hole. It was small, and dark, and Lily was feeling a bit claustrophobic. But she had to go on now. Ignoring her thoughts, she slid down several feet until she reached the bottom. James was waiting for her; his wand was lit, but the light that it emitted was dim and did little to illuminate the passage that extended in front of them. Lily pulled out her own wand and whispered "Lumos." There, that was a little better; at least now she could see James's face, although his eyes looked hollow and almost ghostly in the shadows.   
  
"Come," James said quietly, and they started to walk. The only sound was the patting of their feet against the soft earth. James seemed determined not to say anything; either that, or he was too deep in thought to want to talk. 'I'm not going to be the first one to talk,' Lily thought stubbornly at first; and then, as the minutes lengthened and it seemed that she had been walking in silence for a very long time, 'Come on, just say something!' But James kept his peace.  
  
Finally, Lily heaved a great sigh of defeat. "Do you want to talk?" she asked James timidly. Only someone who knew her very well--better than anyone at Hogwarts did--could detect the slight hint of annoyance to her voice.  
  
"Er . . . okay," James said.  
  
"Umm . . . so, do you come here often?"   
  
"Come where? This tunnel, you mean? Or Hogsmeade?"  
  
"There are other tunnels?"  
  
"Yeah, a few."  
  
"Oh. Cool."   
  
They lapsed into silence again. This time it was James who spoke first. "I think we're almost there."  
  
"That's good. I was starting to think it went on forever."  
  
"I know, it's pretty long."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Look, here are the stairs. Make sure you don't trip."  
  
Lily looked up. And up . . . her gaze traveled higher and higher until the steps blended into the surrounding darkness. She groaned. "We have to climb all those?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Sorry. But it's the only way to get into Honeydukes. Don't worry, there aren't as many as it looks like."  
  
"That's good." They started to climb. James was wrong; there were as many as there appeared to be. More, maybe. But they ascended quickly, and within the next ten minutes, with aching legs, they arrived at the trapdoor. James threw the invisibility cloak over both of them, and pulled himself up through the trapdoor, with Lily close behind him.   
  
Their first stop at Hogsmeade was the Three Broomsticks, where they were to meet Sirius and Remus. James looked longingly towards Zonko's, but he trailed after Lily obediently when she entered the inn, only pausing at the door to throw one last mournful glance at the joke shop. Lily pushed her way through the crowded room until she found them a nice little table.   
  
Lily was staring at her feet. James was gazing earnestly at his hands. Both were avoiding eachother's eyes.   
  
It was then that James caught sight of Rosmerta, the extremely pretty daughter of the owner of the inn, who also happened to be a fifth year at Hogwarts. Immediately, he went into his "popular boy" mode. He flashed a brilliant smile at Rosmerta, and another brilliant smile at his beautiful girlfriend, Lily. He reached over and took her hand. Not having seen Rosmerta, Lily was utterly astonished by this seemingly voluntary gesture of affection. She smiled at him nicely . . . 'Maybe the boy isn't so bad after all,' she thought.  
  
Meanwhile, Rosmerta had made her way over to their table. "Hi, James," she said brightly. Lily's expression darkened. "Hi . . . er . . . hi!"   
  
"This is my girlfriend, Lily," James said. "Lily, this is Rosmerta."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Lily muttered.  
  
"You too! I always love meeting friends of James's. They are always so nice!" Rosmerta waited expectantly for Lily to say something kind and cheerful and sweet.  
  
"Oh," Lily said.  
  
Rosmerta gave her a strange look. "Well . . . do you guys want something to drink?" She giggled, as if she had said something funny.   
"No thanks . . . that is, I don't. Do you want anything, Lily?"   
  
"No, I'm not thirsty." Anything to get rid of her . . .  
  
"Oh. Okay, then I have to get back to my other customers . . . my mom is sick today, that's why I'm here. Normally I would be at school, but Mum thought I should help out."  
  
"You could stay here with us," James offered.  
  
"I'd love to, but really, I have to go help," she said reluctantly.  
  
Lily waited for her to go.  
  
After a few more minutes, Rosmerta turned around and trudged away. James slumped back into his chair as soon as her back was turned, letting go of Lily's hand in the process.  
  
Lily felt herself starting to get angry. What, was this guy using her or something just so he could show off in front of his pathetic little fans? Urgh. She was not going to stand for it. He wouldn't even talk to her. Basically, she was fed up.  
  
"James," she said calmly, "this is a pathetic relationship."  
  
James looked up, startled. "What?"  
  
"I said this is a pathetic relationship," Lily said louder.  
  
"Wha-why?" James sputtered.  
  
"Look at us! We have nothing to say to each other! Whenever another one of your admirers comes around, then you put on the appearance of the loving boyfriend. But that's all it is! A facade."  
  
"That's not true!" James couldn't believe . . . she couldn't . . . she wouldn't . . . he wasn't getting dumped, was he?  
  
"James, why are you so worried about being popular?" James had to lean in to hear Lily; her voice was almost inaudible.  
  
"What do you mean?" James felt stupid saying it; it was so obvious what she meant. But he really didn't want to go into it.  
  
"Come on, you know exactly what I mean. You go out of your way to make it seem like you are the most popular boy around! Never without a girlfriend, never without tons of fans ready to swoon at your feet, with a great sense of humor, and part of the most exclusive group at Hogwarts. Why is it so important to you?"  
  
James could feel his face flushing. "It's not like there's any big history behind it or anything. I just like having lots of friends, okay?"  
  
Lily shook her head. "Everyone likes friends, James, but we aren't all as obsessed with popularity as you are."   
  
"Not everyone knows what it feels like when everyone hates you," James muttered.  
  
"What do you mean?" Now Lily was the one feeling stupid.  
  
"It's just that when I was a little kid, everyone hated me, you know? We lived in this little town, and we had this big mansion; at first, everyone was jealous, but they didn't hate me, exactly. But then, this one kid started teasing me because I had no friends. He said that no one liked me. So I accidentally set fire to his house--" James flushed again-- "I didn't mean to or anything, I was just so mad, and I didn't know how to control my magic. But somehow word got around, and then everyone really started to hate me. They were all afraid that I was going to set fire to their house next; everyone who didn't have fire alarms or burglar alarms got them. I don't think it would have been so bad if they weren't already envious of me, but I guess they were happy to find an excuse to hate me." James paused.  
  
"And?" Lily prompted.  
  
James shrugged. "That's about it. After that, I got a tutor and totally excluded myself from the group of kids my age. But I really didn't like not having friends--" James swallowed visibly-- "and I just thought that it would be a good idea to become popular so I wouldn't have to worry about being lonely anymore."  
  
True, it wasn't a tragic tale. It was probably something that millions of kids all over the world had experienced, in one form or another. But Lily was feeling more kindly towards James at that moment than she would ever have thought possible. She, of all people, knew that it could be hard to be alone.   
  
"I understand," she said softly.   
  
"Don't tell anyone, please."  
  
"I won't."  
  
James looked at the clock. "We should be going," he said. "I guess Remus and Sirius couldn't make it."  
  
Lily nodded, and together, they got up and started back to Hogwarts.  
  
  
Yay! I've finally got it out! Sorry it took so long. But it's here now, and it's a pretty long chapter, too. This part may not be as funny as the others were, but I had to go ahead and start redeeming James; after all, if Lily married him, I think he should be at least a somewhat nice guy. And I'd made him into a total jerk. I'm hoping that he is only a bit of a jerk at this point. But don't worry, the funnies aren't over yet. No, not for a long time . . .  
  
I'm not going to bother to venture a guess on when the next chapter may come out. It seems that I'm always wrong.   
  
Thank you so much to all of you fabulous, wonderful, marvelous, exceptional, and any-good-descriptive-word-that-you-can-think-of reviewers! I really can't love you all enough. As always, if you would like me to review a story of yours, just tell me in your review, and I promise I will get to it. (Dragonessa Smith, I'm coming!)  
  
Please Review! 


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